Infant drinking cups of the type that are of use in training a toddler to drink liquids from a cup are well-known in the art. Such drinking cups typically comprise a cup-shaped container, to which is provided a reversibly removable lid, to which is provided a spout. The spout is suitably provided with a one-way valve means arranged such that liquid may only be dispensed through the spout in response to action of the child. Most commonly the one-way valve is responsive to either sucking action of the child (e.g. a slit valve) or the spout has a flexible character and opening of the one-way valve is in response to squeezing action (e.g. by the child's lips or teeth) at the spout body.
It is appreciated in the art that such infant drinking cups constitute a different type of product than baby feeding bottles, which are used for feeding babies with milk or other liquids (‘baby bottles’). Such feeding bottles generally comprise a bottle container, to which is provided a soft teat that reversibly fixes to a rim of the bottle container by means of a fixing ring. A protective lid is generally also provided to the feeding bottle for covering the soft teat when the feeding bottle is not in use. Such baby feeding bottles are used for feeding very young children (i.e. babies) rather than the training toddlers for whom the present infant drinking cup is intended. Such baby feeding bottles are also most commonly used under the control of a parent or carer who holds the bottle and places the teat in the baby's mouth. By contrast, the infant drinking cups herein are designed to be provided to the training toddler largely for use under their independent control.
Much of the prior art relating to infant drinking cups has tended to focus on preventing leakage of liquids, particularly through the spout. Thus, many ‘one way valve’ solutions to this problem has been put forward, of which EP 634,922 B1 and EP 858,275 B1 of Mandy Nicola Haberman and WO 03/101,261 of Jackel International Ltd are but examples.
Applicant has now realized that other aspects of the generally accepted form of infant drinking cups may be improved such as to enhance the utility and user-friendliness thereof.
In one aspect, known infant drinking cups typically comprise a cup-shaped container having a base from which upwardly extends a circular side wall, which side wall is provided at its uppermost end with a rim that defines the mouth opening of the cup-shaped container. The lid is then provided to that rim with which it interacts in a reversibly sealable manner (e.g. snap-fit). One or more (generally, two) handles then extend from that side wall to assist the child with picking up the cup for drinking therefrom. Conventionally, the circular side wall centres about an axis that extends normal to the container base such that the cup has ‘upright’ form and defines a centre of gravity generally along that axis. Applicant has now appreciated that it is beneficial if instead the side wall centres about an axis that extends at angle from the normal to the container base such that the cup has a ‘leaning’ or ‘tilted’ form and an offset centre of gravity. Such ‘leaning’ or ‘tilted’ form has been found to make it easier for the child to tip the cup towards themselves for drinking therefrom. In essence, it assists the ergonomics of ‘tipping up’ of the cup for drinking.
One problem with such a ‘leaning’ or ‘tilted’ form is that without support the cup-shaped container is also more susceptible to tipping over. One partial solution to this problem is to build up the base such as by providing the base with a stand (e.g. defining a supportive rim). Whilst this assists stability when the cup is not in use, it does not effectively prevent tipping up of a cup that has been clumsily reached for by a child user. Applicant has now therefore devised an alternative solution in which one or more (generally two) handles extend from a lower portion of the cup (e.g. the base) and around to an upper portion (e.g. the rim) wherein those handles define a resting support portion that acts to prevent tipping over of the cup. It will be appreciated that generally the handles extend in or about the direction to which the cup inclines and are arranged to define supportive contact with a support surface (e.g. table top) when the cup is not in use, but also when the cup is in use, and has been tilted up by the child. In improvements, the one or more handles may also define a tipping support portion that projects away from the resting support portion and arranged to define supporting contact with a support surface when the cup-shaped container is tipped up during use thereof.
In another aspect, Applicant has appreciated that the utility of the infant drinking cup could be extended if the design thereof made it amenable to usage without the lid. Thus, in one mode of usage the child ‘trains’ by drinking with a lidded cup that prevent spills in their early training attempts, but as they become more proficient in the cup drinking process that lid can be taken off and the child is trusted to use an open-mouthed container.
Conventional drinking cups tend to be unsuitable for this mode of usage in that the exterior of the rim, which defines the mouth of the cup-shaped container is provided with protrusions, grooves, snap-fittings etc. for engaging with the lid and that are uncomfortable for the child's mouth to interact with. In solution to this problem, Applicant provides the means for engaging the sealing lid to the cup-shaped container interior to that container. Thus in one aspect, the interior of the cup-shaped container is provided with a screw-thread for screw-threaded sealing engagement with a sealing lid also provided with a mating screw-thread.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an infant drinking cup that has enhance utility for the infant user.